This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 11-183939 filed on Jun. 29, 1999 and Japanese Patent Application No. 11-185878 filed on Jun. 30, 1999, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image forming apparatus and system for printing by adding an additional image such as advertisement image to a document image.
2. Description of Related Art
With ever-increasing popularity of copying machines in recent years, many copying machines equipped with a charging device have been installed in such places as convenience stores. Since these copying machines are used by a number of unspecified users, an advertiser can expect a certain meaningful advertisement effect if advertisement image information is added during copying operations.
That being the case, there have been numerous propositions for such an image forming apparatus, which consists of a basic copying unit capable of adding an advertisement image to a blank area that occurs in printing a scanned document image on a sheet of paper and is adapted to charge both user and advertiser if a copy is made with the advertisement image added to the scanned document image.
As an example, such an image forming apparatus is known (refer to JP,8-256256,A), which is designed to obtain a substantial advertisement effect more efficiently by having a sorting means for sorting a plurality of additional images (advertisement images) held in the apparatus according to a category based on time or environment (such as a place of installation of the apparatus), automatically selecting an additional image within the category that matches with the time when the additional image was requested or the environment of the image forming apparatus that requested the additional image in selecting the additional image to be transmitted, and outputting an image obtained by synthesizing the particular additional image with the document image at the time or place most suitable for the contents of the additional image.
However, in the image forming apparatus disclosed in the above publication, there is a limitation to the level of improvement of the advertisement effect, as it does not always provide useful advertisement images for users in reality since the switching of the advertisement image to be printed occurs automatically depending on time or environment assuming a number of unspecified users, i.e., without any consideration to individual users. In other words, the conditions such as time and environment have little relevance on actual individual users, so that we must conclude that the probability of selecting in reality a suitable advertisement image for an actual user is low if the selection is made only on those conditions.
It is an object of this invention to provide an image forming apparatus and system which are capable of substantially increasing the advertisement effect in case of printing by adding an additional image such as advertisement image to a document image.
According to an aspect of the invention, an image forming apparatus comprises a selecting unit for selecting a condition from a plurality of conditions, a memory for storing a plurality of additional images, a control unit for outputting from the memory an additional image in accordance with the selected condition, and an image forming unit for forming an image by adding the outputted additional image to a document image.
According to another aspect of the invention, an image forming apparatus comprises a memory for storing a plurality of additional images, a display unit for displaying information corresponding to part of additional images of the plurality of additional images stored in the memory, a selection unit for making a user select an additional image to be image-formed from of the part of additional images based on the displayed information, and an image forming unit for forming an image by adding the selected additional image to a document image.
According to still another aspect of the invention, an image forming apparatus comprises a memory for storing a plurality of additional images, a receiving unit for receiving a signal of selecting an additional image to be image-formed from the plurality of additional images stored in the memory, and an image forming unit for forming an image by adding to a document image the additional image selected based on the received signal.
According to a further aspect of the invention, an image forming system comprises a memory for storing a plurality of additional images, an image forming unit for forming an image by adding a selected additional image to a document image, an output device for outputting a selection signal of selecting an additional image to be image-formed from the plurality of additional images stored in the memory, the output device being installed at a location away from the image forming unit, a receiving unit for receiving the outputted selection signal, and a control unit for controlling the image forming unit so as to form an image by adding to a document image the additional image selected based on the received selection signal.
According to a still further aspect of the invention, an image forming apparatus comprises a memory for storing a plurality of additional images, a receiving unit for receiving a signal of displaying information corresponding to part of additional images of the plurality of additional images stored in the memory, a display unit for displaying the information based on the received signal, a selection unit for making a user select an additional image to be image-formed from the part of additional images based on the displayed information, and an image forming unit for forming an image by adding the selected additional image to a document image.
According to a yet further aspect of the invention, an image forming system comprises a memory for storing a plurality of additional images, an image forming unit for forming an image by adding a selected additional image to a document image, an output device for outputting a display signal of displaying information corresponding to part of additional images of the plurality of additional images stored in the memory, the output device being installed at a location away from the image forming unit, a receiving unit for receiving the outputted display signal, a display unit for displaying the information based on the received display signal, a selection unit for making a user select an additional image to be image-formed from the part of additional images based on the displayed information, and a control unit for controlling said image forming unit so as to form an image by adding the selected additional image to a document image.
According to a yet further aspect of the invention, an image forming apparatus comprises a memory for storing a plurality of additional images, an accepting unit for accepting user information for selecting an additional image to be image-formed from the plurality of additional images stored in the memory, and an image forming unit for forming an image by adding to a document image the additional image selected based on the accepted user information.
According to a yet further aspect of the invention, an image forming apparatus comprises a memory for storing a plurality of additional images, an accepting unit for accepting user information for displaying information corresponding to part of additional images of the plurality of additional images stored in the memory, a display unit for displaying the information based on the accepted information, a selection unit for making a user select an additional image to be image-formed from the part of additional images based on the displayed information, and an image forming unit for forming an image by adding the selected additional image to a document image.